SpellForce 3... reviewed!

SpellForce 3 reminds me of why I'm a fan of RTS games, but it also reminds me of why they're frustrating as hell... sometimes.

Variety is what we generally try to present to you, which means we don't always get to play some of our favorite genre's... so getting back around to an RTS like SpellForce 3 was like "YES!" (for me). This is actually the first time I've ever played a game from the SpellForce franchise, but doing reviews has gotten me to put my stubbornness aside that required me to play previous installments first. That said... SpellForce 3 actually takes place before the first installment (about 500 years or so before the convocation) so that's cool and if I decide to backtrack... it would basically be moving ahead in the story. SpellForce: The Order of Dawn (the first game) took place after the convocation, followed by the second installment that took place a few centuries after the convocation... which is the central apocalyptic event in the SpellForce universe.

It was a ritual done by the Circle Mages that devastated the world. Yikes!

(Anyway) I do recommend playing "Scenario: Old-Haalayash" before jumping into the main SpellForce 3 campaign. This particular scenario plays out before the events of the main campaign, which definitely played on my stubborn side. The option to at least get up to speed with this mission... (versus reading or watching what happened prior) could not be ignored. Not only that, if you're a noob, you need to shake the rust off or you need to learn the user interface of this game... this mission is perfect. The initial missions of the main game get you up to speed as far as learning how to play, but you get backstory and experience in this scenario. So I recommend starting here... even if you can't transfer that experience or the items over to the main game.

Here is gameplay of the full mission (broken up due to size), which leaves the main campaign unseen for those of you looking to get the game.

SpellForce 3 places you in the shoes of the Betrayer's Child... which its probably safe to assume that no one would want to be known as... in real life. You can choose the name, sex and appearance of this character (to a degree) before starting his or her journey. This is a nice touch, though I would've preferred something a bit more custom... its better than nothing. Your father/the betrayer is known as... Isamo Tahar, a mage rebel. He convinced several Royal Houses of Northander to turn against the Queen to join forces with him... in hopes to put an end to the persecution and discrimination of mages in Northander. You happened to be saved from execution by the commander of a Royal Army elite unit, General Sentenza Noria... which lands you on the side of the Royal Army where you begin your playable journey just after the end of the wars.

The playable adventure itself involves you setting out to find who or what is behind something known as Bloodburn (that looks like a plague) decimating parts of Nortander. During your journey, you will meet new characters and factions to join forces as you dive deeper into the story. I won't be going into detail about that, but I will say that (for me) the story is pretty good... and it flows well.

SpellForce 3 is a real-time strategy/role-playing game, but... it also has something for fans of base building. I like when hybrids hit it out of the park, and this game is almost the perfect blend.

The base building comes into play when you're taking on the opposition, so it's not something you'll be stuck doing all the time. It's a nice touch though... just be prepared to race against the clock in order to get your base prepared for on-coming attacks when battling some enemies; you also have to build your offense to take care of that threat at its source via a tried and true Click 'n Fight system.

You have a variety of characters at your disposal once they join your squad, just make sure that you take advantage of the fact that you have variety. Equip them with the right weapons to make sure you can bring the hand to hand combat + ranged attack options. Not only that... make sure you take advantage of the skill tree to have a full circle of ability during your adventure... so that you can bring the pain and the healing. Trust me, you'll need it.

These battles can really feel like overwhelming tasks at times (to the degree of "WTF?! Is this even beatable?!" as you increase the difficulty) but stick to it... even if you have to save your progress in the middle of the battle based on you reaching strong momentum in battle just in case it goes left. My frustration came from not being able to zoom out and collectively see the areas all my soldiers were located. That's something I appreciated about the RTS game... RUSE. Don't get me wrong, you can zoom out to a nice extent, but not as much as I'd prefer because I'd like to see what's going on and act accordingly. You can click on the map to see that location or scroll to that location, but a zoom similar to RUSE would've been a plus. Also the ability to lock the camera onto selected characters.

I think zooming may have been limited due to the level of detail this game has... I mean the environments are beautiful in SpellForce 3. I found myself just zooming in and out to appreciate the work the developers put in at times, and I still do, to be honest. So visually they knock this game out of the park and the audio quality is awesome (minus hearing "We're being... attacked!" one too many times). Go up to the video above and really listen to the background music, the sounds in the environment, the voiceovers and of course the sounds of battle and other sound effects. Use quality speakers or headphones... and just listen, they really deliver in this game.

Outside of the single-player, you also have PvP multi-player action... as well as a co-op mode that I really look forward to trying out (aka I haven't played it yet). So replay value is here, which also comes by way of 39 Steam Achievements and the SpellForce 3 Editor allows you to create levels and so forth. Modders should be able to appreciate the mod tools... and I'm actually looking forward to seeing what is created.

Price wise... I don't have any complaints about the full retail price because you get a fully satisfying experience with depth by way of an RTS/RPG masterpiece that's actually worth it. Nuff said. I don't see anything fit to really be a con... but I will say that I'm not the biggest fan of rotating the camera in search of items in the environment. They're almost swallowed up by the detail in some locations, but just consider that as an added challenge since it doesn't make or break the game.

Overall, I think that SpellForce 3 is a force to be reckoned with in the RTS/RPG genre... and the man hours have been well spent because this is one beautiful looking adventure with a story packed with depth and audio I can appreciate.

Fun factor: 4

Visually: 5

Replay value: 5

Price: 5

"4.75 / 5 Cool Points"

Brought to you by the... Baby Fu Clothing Co!

THQNordic provided SDGT Entertainment with a copy of SpellForce 3 to review.

ELEX... Reviewed!

Own or be owned... again and again and again!

Elex is one of those open-world RPG's that has a lot to offer and I appreciate the variety the world delivers. Some locations are more beautiful than others, but the beauty is in the variation and the types of experiences you will come across in these different lands. (This includes beasts and people.)

You play as a former Alb Commander by the name Jax who overcame his dependence to Elex. You may be wondering what Elex is because the game's titled the same. Elex is an element (in this game) that came by way of a comet impacting the planet; in other words... you're experiencing life in a world influenced by Elex (and you're fresh out of rehab). You pick up soon after Jax was nearly killed by fellow Albs... and you wake up in the shoes of a noob. You still look like a bad ass... but... you can't exactly get the job done just yet. I won't sugarcoat it, Elex is one of those games that literally leaves me feeling like I went through hell just to get from one location to the next. There are beasts everywhere, mutants, and people who don't exactly have a welcome mat on their doorstep.

I didn't start this game thinking I was going to just dominate Magalan, but... I didn't think the character would be such a weakling. There are settings that allow you to change up the difficulty, but it may only leave you asking... "What did it change?". It's more rewarding when it isn't a cakewalk, but playing around with the difficulty settings don't hurt.

Tips: Day one, learn how to evade an attack and counter. It's crucial to your survival.

Learn how to use the items, and... before you proceed further into the story after meeting the first NPC, use this NPC for level ups asap. Don't just rush off to the destination (or go it alone), take on beasts in the land and even if the NPC doesn't follow you to the beasts directly... remember where he's located and let the beast follow you to him. From there, let the beast square off with the NPC while you take cheap shots because you don't have enough oomph to take them down yourself at this point. This is one of the quicker roads to leveling up before you have to actually earn a companion officially.

Trust me... if you do this, you'll thank me later. Grind and get your level up by doing this, only after learning how to evade, attack, counter, running and jumping. Definitely, remember to run because you are not prepared for everything when you start off... and even after you've become a seasoned bad ass, some beasts and other enemies can still take you out. Play it smart out there.



In Elex, you may start off as an ex-Alb... but what you choose to become is up to you. When the adventure began, I had my fingers crossed hoping that I could customize Jax. That opportunity never came up though... which was disappointing, I wish character customization was available (I loved that about Mass Effect... among other things). In this game, you do get a choice between factions though... wielding magic as a Berserker like some sort of Earth Day crusader, taking the religious route with technological enhancements as a Cleric, or go lawless as an Outlaw.

Going back to your character starting off as a weakling, if you don't follow my tips (which you don't have to... in order to smooth out the initial experience) you will probably find it harder to get going. I would say that the initial experience may get some gamers bummed out... but if you get the game, I challenge you to get your money's worth. The difficulty increases the challenge, not just to lengthen the gameplay... it forces you to step your strategy up. Yeah... I went through hell to get from one location to the next, but it was awesome to fight, dodge and run like hell. I established a strategy through the challenge of survival.

Tip: What I do when an enemy is too strong, is... go and piss off an even stronger beast so it could chase me to that location. From there I just find a place to hide nearby and the beast usually ends up solving my problem. If it doesn't get rid of the targeted enemy, then I know I have to take a different approach or... find a stronger beast to finish the job. I focused on building my skill points so that I could use them on the attributes that unlock the ability to use a gun. After that... I made a few return trips to areas where enemies sent me packing and I was able to bring the pain; others... not just yet.

I enjoy this game, but I can't lie... there are annoyances. The minimap objective size isn't that great... and if I have to look at the large map to find my way because something isn't getting the job done the way it's supposed to, that's a problem. There should be bigger icons (which should be easy to replace). I want to know where I need to go if I have landed myself in hot water and need to escape. I don't want to run the wrong way and have to cross through the same location to get back on track... because sometimes it was a fight to make it out alive the first time.

Another thing that can be annoying is the crouching... which can occur when you're trying to run (crouch could've been done by pressing down the right analog stick). This is one of those OMG moments... because its no time to crouch when you should really be getting the hell out of dodge! I crouched when this gigantic stalker was after me and... I gasped as I rolled out of the way at the last second. Oh and I can't forget about the time it takes to get back up after taking a hit. If energy was lower, I could understand getting up slower, but when I get hit and I can't get up and dodge the second attack... I'm not the happiest camper.

Audio is good... but at the same time... it's not wow either, it gets the job done. One thing I could do away with is the water sound effect when jumping or flying out of the water. It seems a bit loud.

Price wise... it fits, because there is a lot of quality content to enjoy. Replay value is heavy so you won't be disappointed in that department because this clearly isn't a one and done game.

Overall, Elex is actually one of those games that I didn't foresee liking... (I just went in with an open mind) but it has a charm and the options that keep me coming back for more. The exploration is something I enjoy in games, but the world of Magalan is one I want to continue digging into even after the review because there are things that I wanted to check out but I didn't have time to.

I went back to the starting point and found various things after searching a bit more and I'm getting the hang of preparing for the poisonous & toxic locations (good lore is hidden in these places... but so is the chance of dying). The road to becoming a super bad ass is getting closer and closer, some of the powers available in this game remind me of Star Wars actually (i.e. Force Push). I saved six outlaws from these giant mutant bugs after using a Force Push... and all I could think about from that point is "Where are the lightsabers?!". I almost think I'm ready for the land below the lift (last time did not go so well... I scaled a mountain to escape). Anyway, game on... and Happy New Year!

Fun factor: 4

Visually: 5

Replay value: 5

Price: 5

"4.75 / 5 Cool Points"

Brought to you by the... Baby Fu Clothing Co.!

You do not want to miss this post!

So... I'm in the Steam store minding my own business, and... next thing I know I see a deal. As many of you know, we present all sorts of game bundles here... which are primarily for the Steam platform. The deal I saw on Steam is a perfect compliment... and it had me at... awesome.

(Click the image to see it in full or go to the link... here!.)

You can get... a game called "ICEY" + a Steam Link for less than $9 (before s&h). The Steam Link is listed as $1, and for what it's worth... you can basically make that move of getting PC games in your living room. I've had a Steam Link for a while now and... I've never had buyers remorse. I get access to my PC in the living room when I wish to merely kick back and game (an office lounge would be nice too now that I think about it). If you already have one, no need to fear, the Holidays are creeping forward and... you probably know someone who doesn't have one. So it could be one of the most useful gifts for a gamer you know. We'll have your back with the bundles to pack their library.

I was playing ELEX today on a Steam Link... with a review coming in due time. A review of The Mummy Demastered is also coming... so stay tuned. Although I could leave this post right here... I just want to give props to THQNordic for recovering that fumble of the original THQ. THQ, not to be confused with today's THQNordic... did something that we warned against way back when. Some of you were around when we wrote about the uDraw tablet being an absolutely horrible idea... and it ultimately burned them. It sucked because THQ had some noteworthy games. THQNordic is the new ship sailing these IPs into the future... and they have some sick looking titles on the way.

 Brought to you by the... Baby Fu Clothing Co.